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Friday, December 17, 2010

Stress Management Tips

By ~ a Senior (c/o 2010) with underclassmen in mind

"OMG I HAVE AN ENGLISH ESSAY, HISTORY TEST, BIO LAB, AND A FRENCH PRESENTATION ALL DUE THIS WEEK!!! Gotta get started on that..."

Does this sounds familiar to any of you IB kids out there? I'm pretty sure most of us can relate in some way and trust me, it feels AWFUL to be stressed out.

As a full IB Diploma candidate, I have 6 hardcore IB classes riding on my butt this year and I have not tested in any of them. Great. But you know what gets me motivated and "Just Do It"? SELF-MOTIVATION and DETERMINATION. On my wall is a little motivation poster that reads "Every storm weathered with determination brings us closer to success." You know what, yes that all sounds like B.S when you have a bunch of assignments to do that one night. But you know what's even more true? YOU can get through it if you are willing to try.

Some simple tricks can be as follow: block FaceBook (or better yet, turn off the internet completely...unless you truly need it), turn off the TV, go to Starbucks or some other stores or at a library (research shows studying outside your room really help you focus better!!). You know your worst weakness, but can you find your way around it? For example, I usually set wayyyy to much goals and "things to do" that I feel bad if I haven't fulfilled them at the end of the day...so I started setting limited goals: finish your math hw and bio objectives and you're DONE for the day --- I feel good when I accomplished just that.

Also, do yourself a favor by thinking more positive thoughts (because it increases your IQ) and add some rewards after you're done (NO, that does NOT mean 30 minutes of "break" after only 10 minutes of reading...). For me, I treat myself now and then with some $1 Fudge Sundae at McD's or spending fun time malling with my cousins. It pays when you're not worrying about stuff that needs to be done.

Last but not least, I want you to know that the feeling of accomplishing all those crazy assignments (G4, Bio test, History test, Eng essay, blah blah blah ALL w/i 2 weeks!!!) IS FREAKIN AWESOME! Hey, one day you'll go to college and be super thankful for being wayyyy ahead of the other kids (I'm looking forward to it myself *evil laugh of Mr. Jones imitating some Star Wars character*).

5 comments:

This is encouraging to read because I know my friends and I stress way too much... more than we should. A lot of us know what it takes to do our work; we need to quit procrastinating and do the work when we have the time, which in most cases is all day everyday. So why do we stress if we know what needs to be done and have the time to do it? We've engraved it in our brains, "oh 10...20...30 minutes, then I'll start my assignment," but we all know most of us don't... I think the best way to improve our lack of motivation is to simply take the work in increments. It sounds easy enough, but for me, I know that I've told myself to do this and have waited "10...20...30 minutes" and never actually work on it until midnight the night before it's due. Why do we do this to ourselves?? We should know better. We inevitably face the last-hour stress and come to school the next morning either exhausted beyond belief or face more dilemmas such as "the printer isn't working! I spilled something on my essay! I'm running late!" A lot of the time, us students like to blame the teachers for this "crap-load of work," but in reality, it's our own fault. We let it pile up until the end of the week when it's due. WE KEEP DOING THIS TO OURSELVES. Personally, I need to work on my own issues with procrastination and applaud those who don't have this "addiction" (as we mentioned in Bio today) because they are some truly gifted people. They push themselves to avoid the last-minute work unlike myself and others I know. I'd like to also give thanks to the teachers, like Ms. Berman, who spend so much of their time helping and pushing us students to excel in school. Thank you.

As a person who manages stress in really bad ways (and no, i wont put them on here), i have a few tips that do help, if only to keep yourself sane and to keep you from strangling someone (teacher/parent/sibling/friend):1) do take breaks when you working on a long project (or other annoying chore, like room cleaning). if you like to read, do 1 hour of work,then read 1 chapter on a NON-THINKING book. this does not include any schoolbooks.2) do take time to connect with your friends to do non-school related activities. even if you have a pile of homework due; if you haven't interacted with you friends lately, do. talk about the latest in whatever, gossip,go see a movie, something with them that will keep your mind off school for a little bit. 3) do something physical. it may seem kinda stupid, but doing something physically exhausting can help relieve pent up stress and energy that can build up during finals and other tough school times. go running, play a sport (if only for that day), hike, something outdoorsy. 3) play a game. card game, board game, computer game,etc. it accomplishes #2 nicely, all the while doing something thats not related to school. 4) get away from your family. trust me, this helps amazingly well. parents (and siblings, aunts, etc), while well meaning, can put a lot of stress on a person without realizing it. this is where friends come in. see #2. 5) prioritize. if a minor project is due the day before a major project is, don't push the minor project away and try to get the major one done first. do them in the order they are due. it's easier to keep things separate that way.i wouldn't recommend doing all of these at once, but scattered, they can all help (except #5. do that one always)and, as not everybody is an optimist like the senior above (i'm a major pessimist/realist. hazardously so) and thinking positive thoughts may feel very stupid/idiotic, it isn't. it helps more than you can possibly imagine. that, or just hang around an optimist. that usually helps me.

Stress can really take over your mind. Just by stressing out you can resort to doing some crazy things. Even though i have not done anything too crazy, I can't say that I haven't seen it happen. Some of my best friend have anxiety attacks. Even though that can be a product of something else, it surely doesn't help. I am glad that this has been written because it can help me and my friends, as well as other people to deal with stress and overcome it. We all just need to remember that everything is going to be alright.

When ever I stress, I always hear someone saying "take a break, tell someone that your stressed or pissed about something". by that time, I'm already freaking out and don't have time to take a break. I also will procrastinate. I don't talk about what I'm feeling to anyone so it ends up bottling up inside of me and I explode like a psycho to my parents or my siblings and that doesn't help because then I'm in trouble AND have a huge amount of work to do. My advise: TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT HOW STRESSED YOU ARE BEFORE IT BECOMES TOO MUCH AND YOU EXPLODE.

Thanks for the tips Robert, I stress alot. Me and every other I.S kid. Not only do I have homework, but I have sports, and other activies that I do as well. I feel like no matter how hard I try from sinking the homework just piles up. Finish one thing on to the next. I find it easier to have a positive attitude towards it and just get it all done, and not look at the clock and turn my ipod up really loud. It would also be relaly helpful if all these assignments weren't due the same day!(Like Finals!)